In many environments (e.g., offices, homes, etc.), multiple computing entities are networked together. An example of a device that has become desirable to include in a network is a network-attached storage (NAS) device. A NAS device comprises storage (e.g., one or more hard disk drives) that, being coupled to a network, can be accessed by one or more computers on the network. Via the network, a computer can access data (writes and reads) on the NAS. A NAS thus provides a shared storage resource available to multiple computers.
Some storage devices such as universal serial bus (USB) flash drives (which are not NAS devices) can be connected directly to a computer (e.g., via a USB port). Upon connecting a USB drive to a computer, the drive automatically becomes available for access on the computer (e.g., an “E” drive). A user thus can immediately use the drive. A NAS device, however, is not automatically made available on the computer(s) coupled to the NAS device via the network. This lack of automatic and immediate NAS device access is problematic for many users who may not know how to configure the computer to recognize and access the NAS device, or may prefer not to bother with such a configuration process.